The Volta regional organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Korsi Bodja, has submitted a petition to the party's national executives on July 3, urging the suspension of the NPP Volta Regional Secretary, Pope Yevu.

The petition alleges that Pope Yevu diverted campaign materials, including hair dryers, cutlasses, Wellington boots, head pans, fertilizers, and sewing machines, intended for distribution in Ewe communities during the recent Assin North by-election.

In the petition, Korsi Bodja invoked Article 3(7) of the party's constitution, accusing Pope Yevu of gross misconduct as an elected officer and contravening various clauses of the party's constitution related to the recent by-election campaign activities in Assin North Constituency.

The petition highlights that the campaign materials were meant to enhance the party's electoral fortunes in Ewe communities.

However, it claims that Pope Yevu chose to retain these items in his hotel facility for personal interests instead of distributing them as intended.

According to Korsi Bodja, there is video evidence showing Pope Yevu secretly packing the hoarded campaign materials into his car on the morning of June 28, 2023, with the assistance of the Deputy Volta Regional Organizer, who also provided a pickup vehicle for transporting the items to the region.

Read below the petition by the NPP Volta regional organiser to the General Secretary:

REGIONAL ORGANIZER,

NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY,

VOLTA REGIONAL OFFICE,

HO – V/R.

3RD JULY, 2023.

THE GENERAL SECRETARY

NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY

NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS

ACCRA

Dear Sir,

PETITION TO SUSPEND THE NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY VOLTA REGIONAL SECRETARY FOR DIVERSION OF CAMPAIGN MATERIALS FOR PRIVATE USE.

I write to invoke Article 3(7) of the party’s constitution for the suspension of the New Patriotic Party’s Volta Regional Secretary, Mr. Pope Yevu for gross misconduct against the party as an elected officer, contravening Article 3 Clauses 1,3,4,5 and 6 of the party’s constitution, in the recent by-election campaign activities held at Assin North Constituency where the Volta Regional Secretary was caught diverting campaign material meant for the said by-election.

In the said by-election, the New Patriotic Party Volta Regional Executives and other constituency executives were expected to enhance the party’s electoral fortunes by intensifying the campaign in the Ewe communities within the Assin North Constituency. As a result, campaign materials including hairdryers, cutlasses, Wellington boots, head pans, Fertilizers and sewing machines were handed over to the region to help meet the demand of the electorate in the Ewe communities during the campaign. However, it turned out that, while there was indeed, high demand for the said campaign materials within communities where we campaigned, the Volta Regional Secretary decided to keep such items in his hotel facility and diverted the same for his parochial interest.

From the video footage available for your view, the Volta Regional Secretary is visibly seen at the dawn of 28th June 2023, at about 3: 58am, a day after the by-election in Assin North, secretly packing out the hoarded items for the campaign into his car with the support of the Deputy Volta Regional Organizer who had also brought a pickup vehicle for the conveyance of same items to their region.

It must be stated that this act of irresponsible conduct and disloyalty to the party’s collective cause for which we went to Assin North to canvass for vote for the party’s victory in the by-election was a major factor in the apathy that reared its ugly head in the Ewe communities in Assin North Constituency. In fact, the conduct of the Volta Regional Secretary also contravenes Article 3 Clause 6 of the party’s constitution, which calls for members to participate fully in the activities of the party and ensure that the local organs of the party work effectively and accountably.

It indeed beggars belief that the Volta Regional Secretary of our party could be that mean and act in ways that do not promote the good name of the party, as the act was orchestrated before the right-thinking members of the hotel community, subjecting the New Patriotic Party to open mockery and negative branding.

If the Volta Regional Secretary is able to oversee the stealing of campaign materials far away Assin North to his home region, what will he not do if he gets hold of the same materials in his home region?

It is sad to note that even on the day of voting, persons who were promised such campaign materials called our team for the same to be brought to them, but to no avail. This indeed lowered the integrity of my team, which went around canvassing for vote in the Ewe communities. The Regional Secretary should be explaining what benefit there is to get from hoarding campaign materials meant for the electorate and losing by-elections in communities that were in one way or the other avoidable.

As a regional secretary, he owes it a duty to effectively and selflessly rally members of the party around a collective cause and sole objective of winning elections in any given contest and not engage in activities that would negatively affect the party’s chances in any election, whether in his home region or elsewhere. This conduct of his, therefore, makes him not fit for the position and I foresee disaster in the greater task of the election 2024 where the party has an agenda of breaking the eight-year cycle of governance in our country.

I therefore wish to crave your indulgence to as a matter of urgency treat this petition with the seriousness it deserves to save our party from any looming danger in the not-distant future.

I count on your usual cooperation.

Thank you.

Korsi Bodja

Volta Regional Organizer.